Bird's nest

Today for my second inspiration post for our Country View Challenge, I have created a Mixed Media tag with lots of bits from my leftovers "bin". I based the colour scheme on the complementary colours red and green but chose the less aggressive shades of each, adding white to the primary colours.

My tag base is a Mixed Media paper on which I first used Distress inks in green and pink.

I then stamped with Memento inks in green and pink several stamps from Paper Artsy ESN07 and ESN10 - my go to texture stamp sets- both by Sara Naumann. I added some black ink stamping with an ancient Kaisercraft texture stamp and a few motifs from a Finnabair/Prima stamp set (Trust the magic).

I added some (transparent) crackle texture paste here and there and highlighted the cracks with dark Distress inks.

The bird is die-cut out off felt with a CUTploration die (For the Birds), the Authentic is die-cut from metal with a word from the Thinlits - Adventure Words: Script by Sizzix/Tim Holtz. Other bits joining the cluster are partial die-cuts and a piece of home made washi tape and of course the "nest" made of twine with added shiny stones, magpie style, which are Stamperia Glamour - Sparkles in Sparkling White. I bought them for snow but being a bit chunky they were perfect as treasure...

Another look:

What colour pair are you going to choose for your own Contrasting colour entry to this month's  Country View Challenge ? Remember that if you link up, you are in with a chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, We Love To Create  challenges.

Complementary coasters

And the holiday season finishes with a whimper... not much to rejoice, so I am thankful for the enjoyment I get from crafting. Not quite sure what is going to happen this September school wise but at least our Country View Challenge is kicking off as expected.

This month Evelyn has chosen Complementary colours as the theme. I'm guessing lots of you will already know what complementary colour pairs are, but if not, any decent search engine should give you the necessary explanations.

Today I chose my favourite "male" colour scheme with blue-orange as the complementary pair.

I used alcohol inks with a plastic palette, alcohol lift ink and polymer plate to lift the print onto my MDF coasters, which I had first prepared with Gesso.




I cleaned up on separate pieces of cardstock, waste not want not... and on a whim added gold foil on what appeared to be still sticky.

Then, I simply stamped quotes from Paper Artsy set HP1901 and HP1206. I have a few more coasters to do so I will leave the finishing for some other time, but these will need protecting with several layers of varnish, preferably one that can take high temperatures for hot drinks.

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday and Paperbabe  challenges.

Another wet Bank Holiday

Trust British weather to give us clouds, rain and cold temperatures over the Bank Holiday after giving us the hottest week on record…

 

Soooo rain it is….

 

As serendipity would have it, I received this wonderful stamp set from Dot at InkArt Designs, who had a birthday this week, and it was only fair I should create a Birthday card with it!

All the images are from the same stamp set, Sparkle in the rain (Visible Image), which Dot happens to have on offer, so if you're in the southern hemisphere... hop to it!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Lost Coast Designs, and Paperbabe  challenges.

Sandy Beach

Another empty beach... an obsession of mine methinks!

This is made with a single image, "Escape" by Penny Black, stamped in colour (I inked the stamp with pens) and added Distress inks for the sky, sea and sand with brushes.

I don't know if you've managed trips to the beach this year but how I long to feel the sand between my toes, smell the sea air and feel both the heat of the sun and the cool breeze upon my skin....
Forgive the waxing lyrical!!

Have a great day,
I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Allsorts, Stamping Sensations,  Ally's Angels, The Artistic Stamper and Lost Coast Designs challenges.

Chilli Hot

I wanted to join in a few challenges this weekend to push me into doing something despite the hot weather... It was (still is) hard to breathe and the cloud cover was keeping the heat in even at night.

… it is seriously hot!

Like my man, who has a birthday coming up... hence this card
 

To stamp the chillies from the Spice it Up stamp set by Rubber Dance,  I made use of my favourite tool, the stamping platform, which is essential for this result as I stamped first in colour, sometimes twice to get variation in the colour (I used Kaleidacolor inkpad with red and oranges) and then over stamped in Versamark.
For powders I used Wow! clear EP and Primary red EP "mixed" directly on the image.
The left most chilli is made up of 2 of the stamps in the set, I think the "wrinkly" one is supposed to be a dried chilli but I used it as a shadow texture on the "fresh" chilli.

For the sentiment, I partially stamped the "you are so hot" and combined it with the "Seriously" die-cut (STAMPlorations) and the "HOT" from the same stamp set as before.


To finish I was going to add some splatters but the control freak in me had a panic attack at the thought and instead I fished out an old stamp set by The Artistic Stamper, Messy Art (probably retired now). It has mostly large "splats" aimed at journaling but this particular bit is perfect for cards and I inked individual ink splats, stamping without a block exactly where I wanted them. It's all about control....
  
Now off to cool down...

Thanks for visiting today!
I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Allsorts, Lost Coast Designs, The Artistic Stamper, and Stamping Sensations challenges.

Picture-esque Port

I am back for a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, which I am hosting this month.
The theme I chose is "I like to be beside the Seaside".
Far away from the crowded beaches of the South of England, here's a picturesque port that is as empty as a Covid19 afflicted area... OK too soon to joke about? Personally I feel the need as there are no signs of a return to normal anytime soon....

My make is a watercolour, A4 in size (8" by 11" 1/2) and, apart from the buoys and ropes, everything has been stamped not drawn.

The houses are a stamp by Picture This (Fisherman's wharf). I first printed the "mirror image" seen on the right of the picture by using my Gelli plate and Versafine ink (this gave better results than any other of my inks) and then aligned the actual stamp to the left leaving just a small gap to allow sufficient distance between the windows of the central house.

To colour, I used mainly tube watercolours and pencils for small details.

If like me you are lacking in drawing skills, the Picture This collection provides both large images (houses and buildings of different styles and eras, trees)  and accessories (cars, people, windows and doors, street lamps, beach huts etc...) to build your own scene in the countryside, seaside or town. If you aren't familiar with these designs I thoroughly recommend you have a look.

Here's the full picture:

I hope you will enjoy my chosen theme for the Country View Challenge blog and will link up many  projects. And if you do, you could be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the The Artistic Stamper challenge.

Beside the Seaside

Welcome to August and a new Country View Challenge, which this month I am hosting! I chose a theme to make me dream: the Seaside. I want to see beaches, boats, ports, beach huts, deck chairs, bathers etc… You can choose to illustrate underwater scenes too, but a single fish/seahorse/shell will not do...

This tag came by chance as I was playing with the Gelli Plate. I was searching for the perfect shape to test a technique with and grabbed this old stencil, a metal one, with a small image of a lighthouse. My initial idea came to nothing, I think because the paint had dried too much but, with nothing to lose, I added some white paint through the stencil and took the print. A bit of coloured pencils on top and voila, a naïve lighthouse scene!
My Summer Fun and the quote are from the same Rubber Dance stamp set, Retro Beach.
Have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and I hope you will play with us and share with us your Seaside!
Don't forget you will be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop if you link up your project to or challenge!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Paperbabe  challenges.

Christmas in July

Christmas in July is a popular theme in crafting circles and, as it happens, July is also World Watercolour Month so I decided to join in with a watercolour snowy scene to keep us cool...
 

All the stamps are by Crafty Individuals.

I first painted the sky with a brush and watercolour paints.

The bird (CI-507) was stamped next, using a mix of watercolour pencils on the rubber sprayed with water. I sprayed the paper too so that a little colour seeps around the body of the bird as if it's moving.

I masked the bird and stamped the trees (all from CI-450) with grey ink, dry-ish black ink (my old Memento pad), and using my fresh Memento black inkpad for the foreground tree.

With all the elements in place I added hills, snowdrifts and blades of grass peeping from the snow.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Stamping Sensations, Lost Coast Designs and  Vintage Journey challenges.

Pushing the Dandelions

Today I have another make for the Country View Challenge where the theme is "Do More Of What Makes You Happy", chosen by Sue. So use your happy colours, favourite stamps etc..

This turned out completely different to what I had planned... As I love scenescapes, I was going to ink my way through a classic whimsical landscape in the Lavinia style with my new stamps.

After a number of false starts I have ended up with an alcohol ink background and my old favourite Lavinia stamps. Still, also something that makes me happy...

I made the background by spreading alcohol inks on a piece of plastic (you can use yupo, metal or any kind of non absorbent substrate) as my "palette" and used alcohol lift ink and an oval polymer plate to lift the colours and transfer on my white card.

I stamped all 3 flowers from the Dandelions set  in black Versafine, curving the stalks as I wished and added the faerie (Mia isn't in stock at the moment but there are plenty of other fairies here).

For finishing touches, I added a piece of paper lace coloured with Oxide Distress inks in Walnut, a flower die-cut (X-cut Trim Borders) and a die-cut sentiment (All occasion Dies).

You still have 10 days to link to our Country View challenge, plenty of time to do something that makes you happy, and maybe win a £20 voucher which will definitely make you happy...

Thanks for coming by,

She

Hello a special post today as I am showing a make with a new STAMPlorations product. The CRAFTplorations line has now laser cut embellishments in MDF, chipboard and Baltic birch (see this introduction post here).

I received a few samples to road test and this is the first project I made, a display sign to put on a princess' bedroom door. I used the Beautiful Silhouette and one of the Mini Rectangle Tags.

I first gessoed both MDF pieces, the tag with white gesso and the silhouette in both black for the face and white for the flowers.


I then applied crackle medium to the face and painted over with a
flesh colour of acrylic paint.


For the flowers and leaves I kept it simple and added colour with Inktense blocks, sprayed with water and used my fingers to spread. Finally I added a bit of black pen for the eyelashes.

I spelled SHE with bubbles alpha on the tag, origins unknown (very old).

For my base I chose to use a piece of thin wood, recycled from a food container to continue the theme. I wondered if it could be embossed with a folder and the answer is yes, although to avoid breaking the fragile wood it is important to add shims progressively.
Here I used  the Sizzix/Tim Holtz 3D Lumber folder and I finished with a light application of Distress ink to highlight the wood grain texture.

Ironic that I used embossing and ink on real wood isn't it....

Working with the MDF is a real joy as it is both very light and very smooth but so much sturdier than paper!

Don't forget to comment here and on the STAMPlorations blog for the chance to win the Beautiful silhouette in 1.5mm mdf !

***
Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY
***

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge.

 
Note: I couldn't find my regular crackle medium and I used this Docrafts one which a lot of people, including myself, have had trouble with. As you can see, this time it worked and the recipe for success is, I believe, to apply thick layers of both the crackle medium and the paint. The paint also needs to be sufficiently fluid so it can be applied quickly, with as few brush strokes as possible, as that tends to disturb the crackling.

Fragile wings

This is this stamp first outing (Crafty Individual CI- 521) and I was determined to stamp it in colours, however cumbersome it was. I can report it is a bit delicate and time consuming but I did get the required result.

I used a combination of black ink and Versamark ink to stamp and used pastel (chalks) to apply colour on the flower and script. I used coloured pencils for the butterfly.

Apologies for the photo but I had great difficulties taking good pictures without colour casts, so here's a different one:

  

It's one of these images that fill up a card so I didn't add anything to avoid hiding any of its beauty (and my hard work!). I hope you like it!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts (my B is of course Butterfly) and Stamping Sensations  challenges.

Experimenting with alcohol

This should be treat for everyone... My team mate Sue has chosen "Do More Of What Makes You Happy" as the theme of our Country View Challenge this month so all you have to do is use your happy colours, favourite stamps etc..

My faithful readers will know I am a bit of a technique junkie and will not be surprised that, for my first make, I chose to test a new one for me: Gelli printing with alcohol inks. Yes, trying new things makes me happy!!!

As this was a bit of an experiment and I had to work quickly before the inks dried I didn't take any photos but no fear my method is inspired by a video from Barbara Grey who can explain better the process! But in a nutshell, this is what I did:

1. I applied alcohol inks on the plate, added a bit of alcohol, spread the colour with a brayer and placed my stencil on top.
2. With Archival ink and the felt tool I applied colour through the stencil.
3.  removed the stencil, let dry the inks a few minutes and brayered some white acrylic paint on top, then lifted my print with a piece of card.
4.Optionally you can use the alcohol ink remaining on the stencil to create one or more prints by reviving the dried up inks with sprayed alcohol (NOT blending solution).

I managed to get a few interesting backgrounds and some not so great but it is a fun technique. The alcohol inks haven't stained my Gelli Plate except for the yellow (Lemonade), not the end of the world as it is a light colour.

I didn't want to hide the background, which I see as a view over a coastal town surrounded by hills, so I just added some birds (I re-positioned the stencil for that) and the sentiment which I embossed in Midnight Blue.

Supplies:
Ranger Alcohol inks
Archival Mini inks pads Kit 4
Visible Image Strobes stencil
Visible image Where the Dreams take you stamp set
Visible Image Ahead Of Our Time stamp set (the birds)
Versamark Inkpad
Midnight Blue Embossing powder

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.


Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Paperbabe, We Love To Create  challenges.